WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. – Notre Dame College volleyball drew a tough opponent in Clarion in match one. The Golden Eagles held control all match by sweeping the Falcons 3-0. NDC falls to 8-5 after the loss and Clarion moves to 7-4.
 
Notre Dame's best efforts came in the first set, but Clarion edged out NDC 23-25. The Golden Eagles continued their strong play and took the second and third sets 13-25 and 17-25, respectively.
 
On offense, Kelsie Palmer led the attack with a team-high eight kills. A balanced attack after Palmer saw eight other Falcons record at least one kill. McKenzie Andrix and Jayme Zoeckler totaled 13 and nine assists, respectively, to pave the way for the Falcon attack.
 
On defense, Kiley Kalina posted a match-high 20 digs to lead Notre Dame. At the net, Carli Derda and Palmer each had an assisted block.
 
In total, NDC had 27 kills on 102 attacks (.118 hit percentage), 27 assists, 42 digs, one block and three service aces. Clarion was effective with their attacks totaling 49 kills on 109 attacks (.358 hit percentage). They also had 49 assists, 48 digs, six blocks and eight service aces.
 
In match two, Notre Dame was able to avenge their previous match by defeating Bloomsburg in five sets. The Falcons jump to 9-5, while Bloomsburg drops to 5-7.
 
Notre Dame outlasted Bloomsburg in the first set by claiming four of the last five points, sealed by a Richardson kill to win 25-20. In set two, Kaye Dregalla slammed the door shut with a kill to win 25-17. However, the Huskies would rebound with resilience by winning sets three and four 24-26 and 20-25, respectively. It was a tight fifth set at 9-7 Falcons, when NDC caught fire winning six of the last seven points to win the set and match 15-8. Notre Dame is now 2-1 in five set matches in 2021.
 
On offense, Palmer again led NDC in kills with a match-high 16. Dregalla (12), Richardson (7), Brittany Miller (6) and Samantha Comer (5) all added five or more kills for the Falcons. Andrix (27) and Zoeckler (18) continued to do their jobs in the assist department. Andrix's mark led the match.
 
On defense, Kalina posted another match-high with 27 digs. Andrix (14) and Dregalla (12) also helped along the backline with double-digit digs. In the middle, Derda led the match in blocks with 3.5, while Richardson (2.5) and Palmer (2) also stuffed the Huskie attack.
 
In total, NDC had 61 kills on 168 total attacks (.208 hit percentage), 61 assists, 82 digs, ten blocks and six service aces. Bloomsburg totaled 54 kills on 186 attacks (.118 hit percentage), 53 assists, 67 digs, three blocks and 11 service aces.
 
Notre Dame College volleyball will be back in action on Tuesday Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. when they travel to Edinboro, PA to face the Fighting Scots.